Proving Ground
by DramaLexy
Summary: Somewhat AU on Season 2.5. When BSG got reinvented, a few original characters got left behind. I decided to bring one of them back. COMPLETE
1. Prologue

TITLE: Proving Ground

AUTHOR: DramaLexy

SUMMARY: Somewhat AU on Season 2.5. When BSG got reinvented, a few original characters got left behind. I decided to bring one of them back.

DISCLAIMER: Roses are red, violets are blue, BSG isn't mine, so please don't sue...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been watching BSG since episode five (where I promptly fell in love with Kara) and I just recently got a chance to see some of the original 1978 show. I like both versions for different reasons, but decided that a little bit of the old show needed to be added to the new one. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

It generally wasn't going to be a good day when immediately upon clearing a FTL jump, Dradis was already picking up incoming. There were two options in that situation – engage the enemy if the Cylons were already in weapons range and the FTL drive wasn't ready again, or the Pegasus could jump away as quickly as possible and probably save a few pilots' lives in the process. One of the ship's Raptor pilot, callsign 'Athena', was rather glad to hear the call on the overhead for red team pilots to stand down. 

"What's going on?" she asked the CAG as he passed by her in the hangar. "Are we doing jump prep?"

"Don't think so, at least not yet. Apparently the bogey has a friendly ID."

"Friendly? Another transport ship?" She almost would have preferred a Basestar over that; the last time they came across a few civilian freighters, it had turned into an event that those among Pegasus' crew who still had consciences would rather forget.

"Only if their cargo was a compliment of Vipers," he shot back before moving on. Vipers could only mean one thing – the Pegasus had found another Colonial military ship.

* * *

Galactica was an old rust bucket of a battlestar, but as the Raptor she was co-piloting lined up for final approach to the port landing bay, 'Athena' didn't think she'd ever seen a more beautiful sight. The ship had taken some damage at the hands of the Cylons, but it was still in one piece, which was more than what most of the fleet could say. 

"Galactica, Pegasus Raptor 861. Skids down," she told the LSO as they landed.

"Copy that, Pegasus 861: Skids down, mags secure. Welcome aboard, Admiral."

In Galactica's hangar bay, it seemed as though the entire ship had come to greet the passengers 'Athena' had brought from the Pegasus. She watched from the cockpit of her Raptor as the admiral was approached by the ship's CO. "Admiral Cain, welcome aboard the Galactica."

"Commander Adama, it's an honor."

"Allow me to present to you the President of the Colonies, Laura Roslin," he continued, indicating the woman beside him.

"It's a long story," she said, off of Cain's curious look. "Welcome."

"Madam President," Cain addressed her. "A pleasure." She then turned to the mass of officers and crewmen that were filling the hangar to capacity. "On behalf of the officers and the crew of the Pegasus, it's a pleasure to see all of you. Welcome back to the Colonial fleet." Everyone cheered, and the crews began introducing themselves to each other. There was one person in particular that 'Athena' needed to see – the reason she'd been tasked with flying to the Galactica in the first place – but she could be patient. It had already been a long wait; a few more minutes wouldn't kill her.

"You all set in here, Sir?" 'Athena' heard a voice ask her and turned to see one of Galactica's crew chiefs standing in the hatch.

"Yeah. Just finishing the post-landing." She got up from her seat and handed him the clipboard.

"Thanks. I'm Chief Tyrol, by the way," he said, sticking out a hand. She shook it.

"Lieutenant Ilana Adama. It's nice to meet you."


	2. Pegasus 1

**A/N: yes, I know there are a few details that need working out to make this plausible, but that's why it's an AU. Introducing Athena's character at the miniseries would have made her a bit redundant of Kara (which is probably why Ron Moore didn't do it) but by "Pegasus"...It could have worked. Pretend that Ilana was adequately mourned after the Cylon attack, and mentioned whenever you believe appropriate between then and "Pegasus." The rest will be explained in good time. Or ask me questions and I'll put in more Author's Notes.**** 8-)**

* * *

Ilana had sworn the CPO to secrecy about the fact that she was on the ship – she wanted her father to find out from her, not the Galactica's grapevine. She hung out inside of her Raptor until the last of the crowd dispersed, then left the hangar bay. Tyrol's directions on how to find the commander's office were unnecessary – she already knew exactly where she was going. 

As she reached her destination, she saw the president leave Adama's office, and offered the woman a small smile that she hoped wouldn't be recognized – everyone had always told her as a child that she and Zak looked like their father, while Lee took after their mother. When Cain stepped into the hall a little while later, the admiral smiled upon noticing her lieutenant in the hallway. "I was wondering when you were going to make your existence known," she told the younger woman as she walked past her.

"Didn't want to interrupt you, Sir," she replied, fighting to keep all traces of sarcasm out of her voice.

Once Cain was gone, Ilana knocked on the frame of Adama's open hatch; he was standing at his desk, pouring over what appeared to be the ship's logs. "Yes?" he replied without looking up.

"D-Dad?" She could see his body absolutely freeze. Slowly, ever so slowly, he looked up at her, brown eyes quickly filling.

"Ilana?"

She nodded, stepping closer. "It's me, Dad." It was the most delicious feeling in the universe to find herself wrapped up in her father's arms after believing for months that he was dead. She closed her eyes, reveling in the moment, as she felt his shoulders shake slightly. "Don't cry, or else I'm going to start, too."

"I'm entitled," he replied, finally stepping back, although he didn't let go of her. Resting his hands on her shoulders, he studied her face, taking in everything about her. "You were on the Pegasus?" Ilana nodded.

"I'm sorry I didn't make it for the decommissioning; the Scorpion Shipyard was one massive headache. You would think they would have been able to manage four Battlestars better considering the fact that the ships weren't even moving…I guess there's no sense in complaining now. By the time my orders about reporting to Galactica got to me on the Pacifica, the ceremony had already started."

"I should have gone and gotten you myself."

Ilana smiled. "I wouldn't have minded. I made plans to go to Caprica to be there when the Galactica returned. One of my friends from the Academy was stationed on Pegasus and said he would come with me. He wanted to meet you. I'd been onboard Pegasus for fifteen minutes – helping him pack – when the attack came…I saw my ship get nuked. I didn't think we would get out of there alive."

"But you did."

"Yeah. Some of us did. We thought we were the only fleet ship that survived."

"I believed the same…Has your brother seen you?"

Ilana's eyes widened. "Lee's alive?"

Adama smiled. "One of the advantages of actually showing up for an old man's retirement."

She grinned as well. "After two years of running, he actually wound up serving on your ship. I'm sure that's been an experience."

"He's different," Adama assured her. "It has been…interesting, but he's changed since the attack."

"Good. I guess I should go find him. Is Thrace still alive, too?"

"Yes, she is. Alpha Squadron leader."

"Remind me to stay clear of Alpha Squad, then." Adama didn't comment; Ilana and Kara hadn't gotten along since the day the former had learned that the latter was dating her twin.

"Why don't you let me get someone to take care of finding your brother?" he suggested. "We can have dinner here, together."

Ilana smiled. "I guess it's a good thing that the Admiral gave us some time over here because I'm not getting let out of your sight anytime soon, am I?"

"No. Not today, at least."

She hugged her father once more. "I can live with that."

* * *

After a long afternoon of having to deal with Pegasus' CAG, Lee had been a little surprised to receive word that his father was requesting his presence for a private dinner. He figured it was going to be an affair with the president and the admiral and just hoped that the night would turn out better than the last dinner party he'd been suckered into. 

Arriving at his father's quarters at 1800 hours, Lee knocked on the hatch. "Sir?" he called, trying to stay formal, when he realized he couldn't actually see Adama inside.

"You always did look good in dress blues," Ilana told him, stepping out from the corner where Adama's bookcase was and into her brother's view. Lee just stared. "Wow, when was the last time you were speechless?"

"You're…How?" he finally managed to get out.

"Pegasus. Long story that's probably not worth retelling."

"Are you okay?"

Ilana raised an eyebrow; perhaps her father was right and Lee really had changed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Raptor pilots have slightly longer life expectancies than Viper jocks. Looks like you're in one piece, too."

"So they tell me."

Adama returned at that moment, with covered plates from the mess hall. "Was the look on his face memorable?" he asked his daughter.

"Very," she replied, grinning at her brother. "He couldn't even string a sentence together."

Adama smiled as they each took a plate. "I'm sorry I missed it, then." They sat down at the table together, and Adama raised his glass of water. "To family," he toasted. Ilana and Lee smiled and copied him.

"So say we all."

* * *

It was late at night by the time that Ilana got back to the Pegasus. She knew that many members of the ship's crew had rubbed their Galactica counterparts the wrong way throughout the day. Ilana wasn't one of Cain's handpicked crewmembers, either, and understood the other Battlestar's frustration. 

Admiral Cain had had a reputation within the Colonial fleet even before the Cylon attack had turned her into a sometimes frighteningly desperate woman. Most of her predominantly-male crew thought of her word as scripture, and those who didn't usually didn't live very long. Ilana was surprised that she'd been able to hold her opinions in check for this long.

"How's Daddy?" one of her bunkmates teasingly asked as she came into their room.

"Frak off, Bandit."

"That's 'frak off, Sir,' to you, JG." Ilana just glared. She was past due for a promotion from junior grade, but she was an outsider on Pegasus and hadn't become enough of a conformist to make her way into Cain's good graces.

"Lieutenant Adama?" a PO2 asked as he came in the door to their bunkroom.

"That's me," she replied. He handed her a few papers and left.

"What are those?" Bandit asked her as she read over the top sheet. A smile slowly crossed her face.

"Transfer orders."

* * *

Adama dispensed similar paperwork from Cain on his own ship the next morning, although he chose to deliver the news himself. 

"Transfer to Pegasus?" Lee asked his father.

"Why the frak should we do that?" Kara added.

"Because those are your orders." Adama sure as hell didn't like them, but there wasn't much of anything he could do about it, a fact that seemed to escape his two pilots.

"We can't just let her come over here and frak up our entire roster on the eve of a major Cylon operation – " Lee protested.

"That's a load of crap!" Kara simultaneously proclaimed. "She's just trying to frak with the 'G' because their CAG has a stick up his – "

"That's enough!" Adama yelled over them. "You're officers. Act like it! She's given you and order. You will carry it out."

"Permission to speak freely?" Kara asked.

"You may not. We've all gotten used to bending the rules, having our way, letting things slide. Well that's over. You were the uniform; you will accept the rules that go with it. You've been transferred. Now pack your gear and report to the Pegasus CAG. Dismissed," he added when neither of them immediately moved. After sharing a look, they obeyed.

"Gee, I wonder if we'll be sharing a bunk room with little sister?" Kara sarcastically asked Lee as they walked down the hall. "It'll be a big family reunion!"

* * *

TBC... 

Opinions so far? I'm trying to mix scenes from the show with my own scenes or retelling stuff in the show from a different perspective. Suggestions are always welcome.


	3. Pegasus 2

Needless to say, Kara and Lee weren't thrilled to arrive on Pegasus and find out that Ilana was now calling their old ship home. Lee was upset that his father hadn't told him, not realizing that Adama hadn't had anything to do with Cain's plans to shake up the crews. Things only got worse as Kara got pulled off the Cylon op for opening her mouth during the briefing and Lee was dressed down in front of the whole squad by the CAG. It wasn't a good day.

Ilana's first day on Galactica went somewhat better. Upon moving into one of the two Bravo Squadron bunkrooms, she learned that a couple other pilots had unfortunately also transferred from Pegasus. Gage and Vireem spent a good deal of the afternoon pilot meeting complaining to each other in the back row about how they'd never be able to build up kills for displaying on their Vipers if they had to fly Mark II's.

"You're going to get your own asses tagged if you don't shut up and listen to the briefing for our op," Ilana stage whispered to them. They both flicked her off.

"Friends of yours?" the pilot next to her asked. Helo, she thought his call-sign was.

"Not exactly," Ilana replied. She waited a couple minutes for Hotdog to finish talking and dismiss them all. "Actually, I didn't have many friends left on Pegasus."

"Ah. I know how that feels," Helo said as they headed out onto the deck. "One day, I went on patrol and while I was gone, the world ended. By the time I got back, NOTHING was the same."

Ilana raised an eyebrow. "You're Lieutenant Agathon, aren't you?"

"Guilty as charged. Do I have a reputation?"

"A little bit. You survived on Caprica…and brought back a Cylon."

"Yeah, that's the last few months of my life in a nutshell." Ilana looked up, noticing a crowd gathering around a door at the side of the hangar.

"What's going on over there?"

"The Chief's probably got his still going."

Sure enough, the crowd inside the storage room was passing around cups like they were filled with liquid gold. "Hey, Chief," Gage called out to Tyrol as he came in behind Ilana and Helo. "You deserve a frakking medal. We haven't seen booze for months. This place is a frakking party!"

"I heard you guys even got yourselves a Cylon," Vireem added. "Heard she's a hot one, too."

"Like to get me some of that Cylon stuff," Gage joked. "A little of the oh-yeah, oh-yeah." They both laughed. Ilana noticed that several people around the room – mainly the female members of Galactica's crew – were starting to look a bit uncomfortable.

"That's enough guys," Tyrol told them. "Just shut up."

"Ooh, sensitive," Vireem said. "You got a soft sport for the little robot girl, do you? You remember when Thorne put that 'Please Disturb' sign up on the brig?" he asked Gage.

The other pilot nodded. "I got in line twice."

"I hear that. Remember she was just lying there, with that blank look on her face?"

"Do you mind?" Cally asked, looking pretty disgusted. She and a few other of the deck-girls headed out of the room, which only served to amuse the 'frat boys' more.

"Ooh, frisky," Vireem teased. They wouldn't let up, and Helo was about to take their heads off. Tyrol was working overtime trying to hold the pilot back. Both of them finally left; Ilana assumed they were headed for the brig to see what Lieutenant Thorne – Cain's chief Cylon interrogator – was up to.

"You're both scum," Ilana told the pair of Pegasus pilots as she moved to leave with the last of the other girls still in the room.

"Oh, what, like you feel sorry for the robo-bitch?" one of Galactica's pilots asked her. "I thought Athena was supposed to be Zeus' Daddy's Girl."

"What the frak are you talking about?"

"Nobody clued you in? That Cylon we've got in the brig? Same song, second verse. We thought that copy-A was one of us, that we could trust her. She went on a suicide op to destroy a Basestar – and then came home and tried to kill the Old Man. Two bullets, point blank."

"She got what she deserved," one of the other pilots chimed in. "Too bad it was so quick." They laughed, and poured themselves another round of drinks. Ilana was done listening to them. She left the hangar, heading back for her bunkroom. It seemed like life onboard Galactica had been just as interesting as on Pegasus.

* * *

Once Ilana had changed into her flight suit, she stopped by her father's quarters before the op began. She studied him for a moment from her spot in the doorway, seated at his desk and going over paperwork. She never would have known that anything had happened to him if someone hadn't told her. She'd thought he was dead for months, and it seemed the truth was that he easily could have been. 

Adama looked up, sensing her presence, and smiled. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Just a minute…How does this look?" she asked, indicating the fact that she was now wearing Galactica's insignia on her left sleeve.

"Perfect. Now all we need to do is fix that patch on your right arm."

Ilana smiled. "Vipers are for you and Lee, Dad. I'm perfectly happy in a Raptor. Someone's gotta be the eyes and ears for the flyboys out there."

"Mmm…Answer a few questions for an old man."

"Uh-oh."

"What's that for?"

"Who's in trouble?"

"No one. Can't a father be curious?"

"Maybe. Depends upon what he wants to know."

"Fisk wasn't the Pegasus' XO when the attack happened, was he?"

Ilana looked up, surprised. "N-no."

"What happened to Colonel Reddon?"

"He was killed, in an op that went bad. We took damage; a station blew out in CIC." Adama studied her for a moment, trying to find the truth in her eyes. It was finally too much; she'd never wanted to have to keep the Pegasus' secrets. "It wasn't an accident," Ilana admitted. He nodded; more details weren't necessary. It was already clear that his ship, his officers, and the whole fleet were likely in danger.

"Thank you," he told her. "Good luck on the op."

"Yes, Sir."

* * *

Down on the hangar deck, Ilana was surprised to see Shadow waiting by Raptor 582 instead of Helo. "Where's Lieutenant Agathon?" she asked the ECO. 

"You didn't hear?" he replied.

"Hear what?"

"He's on the Pegasus. On 'trial' for murder."

Her eyes widened. "He's what?"

"All right, let's go!" Kat called to everyone assembled on deck before the other pilot could explain. "Good hunting, everybody!"

"You ready?" Shadow asked. Ilana nodded and followed him into their Raptor. Now wasn't the time for questions; they had a job to do.

Galactica was still CAG-less at the moment, which left Alpha Squadron's new leader, Kat, in control of the mixed group of Galactica's Alpha and Bravo Squad pilots that emerged from the ship. Captain Taylor was heading up Pegasus' Blue team. As both groups formed up and got ready for the op, all hell broke loose.

"Attention all Galactica fighters: attack formation. Target: Pegasus," they could hear the order come over their wireless sets.

"What the frak?" one of the Viper pilots asked.

"They did just tell us to target our own ship, didn't they?" Shadow asked Ilana.

"That's what I heard…And I think they heard something similar," she said as she realized that Blue Team was also getting into formation. The two groups of fighters faced off, flying straight for each other, although no one had hit a trigger yet.

"Galactica, Kat," she called over the wireless. "I got inbound Pegasus Vipers coming right at me. Request instructions." There was a long pause as the ships got even closer. "Galactica, Kat: request weapons free. We need your help."

"Kat, Galactica: do not fire unless fired upon. I repeat, do not fire unless fired upon."

A moment later, something happened that no one had ever run simulations for. The two groups sailed straight past each other – although not without a lot of very close calls. Pegasus' Mark VIIs had the advantage when it came to whipping back around to come at them again.

"Galactica, Hotdog!" he called out, "One of them just pulled into my kill slot!"

"Hotdog, watch your six, he's right behind you!" one of the other pilots warned. All of the Vipers were tailing whatever target they could get but still no one was shooting. They were all just waiting for the first frakker's finger to slip on the trigger and then this little game of chicken would turn into a blood bath.

"I've got something on Dradis," Shadow called up. Ilana sighed.

"I wonder if we're all going to kill each other before the Cylons get the chance."

"Single bogey," Shadow continued. "At least, I think. It's jamming me or something; I can barely pick it up…No transponder – it's gotta be a Raider."

"Attention all Galactica Vipers – you've got a Cylon Raider coming right at you," Dee warned them on the wireless. By some miracle, every Viper suddenly stopped chasing after each other and turned on the unidentified craft in what must have looked like a wonderfully orchestrated move to an outside observer and was actually just a stroke of pure luck.

"On my lead!" Kat called to the Galactica pilots as they took off.

"Starbuck to all Vipers," they heard a voice say. "Do not fire. Repeat, do not fire! I'm a friendly, okay? We're all friendlies. So let's just…be friendly."

Ilana sighed. Starbuck wasn't one of her favorite people in the universe, but at the moment, both ship's squadrons probably owed their lives to her antics.

* * *

TBC... 


	4. Resurrection Ship

By the end of the day, things were even more frakked. Cain hadn't been happy with the little stunt that Lee and Kara orchestrated, and needed someone to take it out on. Since she was deeming Starbuck a tactical genius, that only left Apollo. An op was in the works to destroy the ships Kara had surveyed, but two even bigger ops were being planned for the moments after their victory.

That night, Lee volunteered to act as an errand boy for the admiral, since it gave him the opportunity to spend the night on Galactica instead of Pegasus. His first stop was his father's office to bring him the documents and to discuss the job that Adama had given Starbuck – assassinating Cain. The Commander wasn't ashamed of his choice, however, and Lee hadn't realized that his father had the president's backing. That gave him a few things to think about, but as he turned to leave, Lee still had one more question floating around in his head.

"Dad? Whose order was it for Ilana to be transferred?"

He frowned. " Admiral Cain orchestrated all of the crew transfers. Why?"

"Just…curious. It doesn't really matter. Goodnight, Sir."

* * *

For too much of his childhood, Lee had been the man of the house, responsible for helping his mother and watching out for his brother and sister. It had never been a question whether or not any of them were going to the Colonial Military Academy; Lee had the skill and the love for piloting, Ilana hadn't cared much about fighters even though she definitely had a knack for flying, and then Zak was the unlucky one with the passion but without the skill. And it had cost him.

Ilana had been the go-between back then, the only one still talking to both their mother and their father. She'd hated the way that Lee had treated Adama, choosing instead to place blame for Zak's death where it was actually deserved, although none of them knew at the time that she was right. As a dig at her big brother, Ilana had chosen the call-sign Athena for herself; brother of Apollo and Zeus' favorite child. He'd been furious with his father, and angry with Ilana for siding with him, but looking back now, Lee was thankful that someone had been there for Adama when he turned against him. Ilana's call-sign had been earned.

Balancing the two cups he was holding in one hand, he used the other to open the hatch to Bravo Squad's Bunkroom A. Ilana was sitting on the edge of her bed, talking with the pilots that slept across from her. "Hey, did you get lost?" she asked her brother with a smile. "Wrong ship, Lieutenant."

"I'm aware, brat," he told her. "I'm on Galactica for the night. Thought you and I could catch up over a couple cups of the Chief's brew." Ilana jumped down from her bunk.

"Lead the way."

* * *

They wound up in Galactica's observation room, which was completely empty. "I think I'm about the only person left that's still subordinate to you," Ilana told her brother with a giggle as she took a seat at the window.

"Don't remind me," he replied, sitting across from her.

"You could always stay on Galactica. I'm sure that the admiral would be more than happy to get your insubordinate, creative little self off her hands."

"I'm sure. But Dad's already got enough to deal with when it comes to her."

Ilana considered that for a moment. "You really are getting along with him now?"

"Most days. When he's not staging military coups and I'm not holding a gun to the XO's head."

Ilana frowned. "And I thought my ship was interesting…When did Dad get shot?"

Lee froze, his cup halfway to his mouth. "You heard about that?"

"Yeah. How bad was it?"

"Bad. No one saw it coming, just…all of a sudden he was bleeding to death on a console in the CIC."

Ilana shivered at the thought. Her father had always been invincible; the great war hero, a celebrity. She and her brothers had adored him when they were small, mimicking his every move. The Old Man's mortality wasn't supposed to be so blatantly put on display.

"I wish I'd been there for him," she murmured.

"So do I," Lee agreed. Ilana looked at him curiously. "Remember I mentioned putting a gun to the XO's head? Dad wasn't too happy about that, and neither was Tigh, so I was in the brig most of the time that he was in the Life Station, and then…I wasn't on the ship anymore by the time Dad recovered."

"Where were you?"

Lee's lips curved slightly. "Helping the president stir up a mutiny in the fleet."

"I don't think I want to know."

"You probably don't. It was just…it was a very bad time for us all."

"I can understand that. It's just scary to think that something could have happened to him."

He smiled. "I don't think Dad's going anywhere yet. He's got too much left. Especially now that you're here." Ilana returned his grin.

"Don't tell him that I know about what happened, okay?" she asked her big brother.

"Why not?"

"He always tried to protect me; now it's my turn. If he thinks I need to know, he'll tell me, but otherwise…"

Lee nodded. "I won't say a word. Promise." Teasingly, Ilana stuck out her hand, and they did a special handshake that had always been used for secret-swears when they were little children. She was glad to see how far Lee had come since the last time she'd seen them; having what remained of her family with her meant everything.

* * *

They talked for a little while longer, but Ilana soon headed back to her bunkroom; the joint strike operation was scheduled for the next morning. She and Shadow had one of the four Raptors that quietly watched over the chaotic battle scene. Apollo had been tasked with using the Blackbird to destroy the Resurrection Ship's FTL drives. 

"Don't anyone look out the window right now, please," Ilana heard her brother mutter over the wireless as he approached his target. She cracked a smile. There was a bright explosion on the intricate Cylon ship, and Ilana let out the breath she'd been holding. Maybe they all really would make it through this day in one piece.

"Starbuck, Apollo: target's FTL is history," Lee radioed in. "She's all yours."

"Roger that, Apollo."

There was a loud crackle over the wireless system that usually meant they'd lost a pilot. Ilana quickly looked to her Dradis screen to try and determine which Viper they'd lost. She didn't think she saw any missing fighters, and it took her just a moment too long to realize that there was one ship that wouldn't have shown up well on Dradis anyway.

"Frak! Drift….ift….er. I've…..Eject…" the transmission that came across was almost too garbled to make out. But the word 'eject' got everyone's attention.

"Lee?" she cried, panic starting to rise. "Apollo, Athena: can you hear me?" There was no answer. "Apollo? Do you read?"

"Raptor 582, Galactica. Pilot down. I repeat, pilot down," Dualla reported from CIC. "Begin search and rescue operations."

"Copy that, Galactica," Shadow replied. "Come on," he told Ilana, trying to calm her a bit, "You go find your brother; I'll try and keep us from getting killed while you do it."

It was hard to conceptualize exactly how big and black space was until you had to find one little darkly-clothed object in the middle of an enormous firefight. Ilana was praying that no one would accidentally skewer her brother with their Viper or not see him in their targeting path before she and Shadow could get to him.

"Apollo, Athena: do you read? Can you say your position?" she tried again. "Apollo, can you read me?" It was getting increasingly difficult to talk around the lump in her throat. "Apollo? A-are you out there?" He couldn't leave her now, he just couldn't…

"I think I've got something," Shadow spoke up, using his controls to switch her Dradis screen so that she could have the same view he was looking at.

"I see it." Flipping on the Raptor's search lights revealed that they were indeed pulling up on a few chunks of debris, including the Blackbird's still-occupied ejection seat. "Galactica, Athena: we found him!"

"Copy that," Dualla replied.

"Make sure no sneaks up on us," Ilana told Shadow. "I'm venting atmosphere and opening the hatch. Lee, can you hear me? You're going to be okay."

* * *

They hadn't had any idea how close they'd come to losing Lee until she and Shadow hauled him into their Raptor and realized that he'd lost consciousness because he was beyond the red line on oxygen. The seconds it had taken for the cabin to repressurize had been endless. Ilana had stayed by her brother's side once they returned to Galactica, not knowing or caring at the moment what was going on in the rest of the fleet. 

"Was the op successful?" Lee weakly asked her as she sat by his bed in the infirmary.

"We're still alive, so I'd assume so. Didn't the Resurrection Ship go up right underneath you?"

"Was that what that big explosion was?" he asked with a small smile.

"Mmm, probably."

They both looked up as Adama approached them, stepping through the curtain that surrounded Lee's bed. "How are you?" he asked his son.

"Alive. I think."

Adama nodded. "That's more than some can say…I just got word from the Pegasus. Admiral Cain was found in her quarters. She's dead."

Ilana noticed that her brother didn't look anywhere near as surprised as she felt, although he did look concerned. "Dad…" he began.

"The Cylon that was being held on the Pegasus escaped…It decided to pay the Admiral back for its treatment while prisoner." Lee slowly nodded.

"Is Doc Cottle going to release me in time for the service?"

"He will if ordered to," Adama replied before leaving.

Ilana sighed. She hadn't liked the way Cain did business, but that didn't mean she wanted to see the woman dead. "I hate dress uniforms," she commented to Lee. He gave a slight nod.

* * *

The night, once the memorial was over, Adama had some business to attend to with Colonel Fisk, who had taken over command of the Pegasus, and then he had a meeting on Colonial One. Ilana volunteered to shuttle him around in her Raptor, since he technically wasn't supposed to be piloting anything himself. 

"Is everything okay?" she asked him as he entered Colonial One's hangar bay after finishing with the President. Adama nodded.

"Fine. Let's go home."

Ilana smiled as she noticed something. "Um, Sir?" She motioned that he needed to wipe his bottom lip; a trace of lipstick was visible. That definitely fell into the category of 'things she didn't need details on,' although it didn't particularly bother her that Adama had a life of his own. Happiness was a precious commodity these days.

"Don't worry," she promised her father, "I won't tell." He didn't answer, just got into the Raptor.

* * *

TBC... 


	5. Epiphanies

The fleet was a beautiful thing to see from the air. Galactica had retaken the lead position in the convoy, with Pegasus trailing just behind to the left and Colonial One high and back on Galactica's right. The assortment of other ships that made up the fleet speckled the darkness like the stars around them.

Once she and her father were back onboard Galactica, Ilana ran through the post-flight and gave her paperwork to the chief. She wasn't sure exactly what to say to Tyrol, and so chose to say nothing at all. Lieutenant Thorne wasn't anyone that she was going to cry over, but he'd still been one of her shipmates and killing people over Cylons was a pretty frakked up concept.

As Ilana jumped down from her Raptor, she noticed a Mark VII parked beside her bird that wasn't normally there. "What are you doing here?" she asked the pilot sitting in the cockpit, stepping up on the ladder to his plane.

"It's my fighter," Lee replied.

"Okay, what's your fighter doing on my ship's hanger deck?"

"Oh, it's your ship, now?" he teased.

"I'm the one who actually sleeps here."

"I believe you need a pair of these before you can call a ship your own," Adama told the pair. They both turned to see him holding his Commander's ranks. New insignia were pinned to his collar.

"Yes, Sir," Ilana said.

"I'm here on the ADMIRAL's orders," Lee told his sister with a bit of a smirk. Tyrol handed Lee a clipboard with his own post-flight paperwork.

"When the two of you are finished," Adama told them, "I'd like to see you both in my quarters." He then headed out of the hangar.

Ilana grinned at her brother as he filled out his form. "Are you done yet?" she sing-songed.

Lee handed the clipboard back to Tyrol. "Let's go."

* * *

Adama was waiting at his desk, looking at papers that had been left for him while he was off the ship. "You wanted to see us?" Lee asked as they came in. 

"I had something to give you," he said, taking two objects out of a drawer. "Well, these are being returned to you," he amended, handing one small box to Lee, "But these are new," he added for Ilana. Lee was receiving his captain's ranks back while Ilana was finally a full lieutenant. "I thought this should be my first order of business as commander of the fleet again."

"Thank you, Sir," Ilana told him.

"There are going to be a few changes," he told them. "I want you to remain on Pegasus, Lee. They need a CAG and I'd prefer not to have to inflict Starbuck on Fisk so early in his command."

Lee laughed. "I understand."

"Now why do I get the feeling that means that she's going to be inflicted upon Galactica's pilots instead?" Ilana asked her father.

He smiled. "At least most of them are used to her."

"Request transfer back to Pegasus?" Ilana asked. She only half meant it, though, and Adama knew it.

"Request denied. You'll manage."

* * *

Two days later, both ships were settling into their new routines. "Starbuck zero-four-niner: CAP is away," Kara reported over wireless as her Viper left the launch tube. 

"Roger that," Dualla replied. "Zero-four-niner, Safe flight."

"Safe and 20 frakking minutes late," Ilana muttered to Shadow from her seat in their Raptor. He smirked.

"Did you have a rough night, Starbuck?" Kat ribbed their leader from her Viper.

"You're way out of line," Kara shot back, which basically meant 'yes'. "Just follow my lead and save the attitude for someone who cares." Shadow offered a mock salute, which Kara couldn't possibly see. Ilana tried not to laugh out loud.

"Kat six-seven-zero: request permission to clear guns."

"Roger that, Kat," Kara replied. "Clear your throat."

Ilana was paying more attention to her Dradis screen than to the other two fighters in the air as they flew through the fleet. It was therefore a complete surprise when Kat's gun blew, sending shrapnel flying at both of her companions. Ilana jumped as the front window of her Raptor cracked and started leaking atmosphere. A hole got blown straight through the nose of Kara's Viper.

"Damn it!" she cried as her controls started fritzing out.

"Weapons malfunction!" Kat yelled. "Weapons malfunction! Galactica!"

Kara managed to get her Viper somewhat under control. "Kat, you good?" she asked.

Kat leveled out as well. "Yeah, I'm good, I'm good."

"Athena?" Kara turned her attention to the Raptor on her other side.

Ilana eyed her slowly breaking window. "We're in one piece – for the moment."

"What the hell just happened?" Kat asked.

"Your frakking wing gun blew out," Shadow replied.

"Everybody just keep it steady; we're going home. Galactica, this is Starbuck. I'm declaring an emergency; we've got three busted up birds out here. Requesting priority clearance to land."

"Starbuck, Galactica: flight deck is yours."

* * *

As it turned out, the misfire wasn't a misfire at all but the result of sabotage. The perpetrator was a member of a group of a Cylon Peace Movement that was gaining strength within the fleet. 

"I don't know who the frak would actually believe this crap," Hotdog commented as he sat in Galactica's mess hall with Ilana, Kat, Shadow, and Racetrack playing cards and drinking. "The Cylons would kill us all on sight if given the opportunity."

"Aw, you don't think they're big teddy bears under the armor plating?" Kat asked with a smirk. He snorted.

"Has anyone ever wondered why?" Racetrack asked. "I mean, really wondered why they attacked us? Not just the normal answer of 'because they hate us,' but why do they hate us this much?"

"Same reason they started the original war?" Shadow offered up.

"Anyone who made the original Cylons would have been gone by now," Ilana pointed out. "Or at least geriatric. We're paying for a past we had nothing to do with."

"You think we'll ever be free of them?" Hotdog asked.

"If so, it'll be long after our fighter jock asses are dead," Kat pointed out. The others snickered lightly; death was something they dealt with constantly, even welcomed on some days.

"Maybe we should give this Peace Movement a couple ships and let them go make friends with the Cylons," Shadow suggested. "That'll be a few less frakking idiots for us to worry about."

"And a few less people in the human race," Racetrack countered. "Frakking idiots or not, we're still all that's left."

"All right, check?" Ilana asked the rest of the table. Everyone laid down their cards. "Full colors," she said with a grin.

"You definitely didn't learn to play from your brother," Hotdog told her as he started to recollect the deck.

"Yeah, you seem to have taken a few pages from the book of Starbuck," Kat added.

"Not likely," Ilana replied as she took her winnings.

Kat raised an eyebrow. "You're not a member of the CAG's fan club?

"We tolerate each other."

"The rest of your family loves her," Shadow pointed out.

"Yeah. Too much, in some cases…She was dating my brother."

A few whoops went up around the table. "I knew it!" Hotdog exclaimed.

"EVERYONE knew it," Kat shot back. "It was pretty obvious to see there was something going on with her and Apollo."

Ilana shook her head. "No, my twin brother. Zak. He died a little more than two years ago."

The mood in the room got a little more somber. "Oh."

"Here," Shadow said, handing her another cup of ambrosia.

"The idea that you can 'drown your sorrows' is a myth," she told him, putting the cup back on the table. "Besides, I've already drank enough. I'm out; I've got a patrol in the morning."

* * *

She was already out in the hall before she realized that Shadow had followed her. "Are you turning in, too?" Ilana asked him. 

"Figured I might as well. My ass has to be in a Raptor just as early as yours does." They walked together in silence for a few minutes. "Was your brother a pilot, too?" he asked.

"Yeah. It was all he ever wanted… Kara was a flight instructor at the Academy when Zak and I were going through. When he told me he got a girl, I never thought it would be the teacher…He'd have married her, too, if he hadn't smashed his Viper into the ground about four frakking feet short of the Academy flight deck."

"Damn."

"Yeah. Maybe if he hadn't spent so much time drooling over our instructor, he might have learned a little bit more in class. She had no business training him…" She sighed, pulling it back together. "It doesn't matter now. Nothing much matters anymore. If Zak had lived, he and Kara probably would have died together in a nice little house on Caprica a few months ago, so I guess that his death saved her in an odd way. Numbers are all that count these days, right?"

Shadow shrugged. "So they say."

* * *

TBC... 

feedback is much appreciated 8-)


	6. Scar 1

**AN: Several parts of season 2.5 made me cringe, so I decided to delete them here. Namely, "Black Market" in its entirety never happened in my little universe. So...moving on to Scar!  
**

* * *

Numbers may have been important since the Cylon attack, but they weren't in the favor of Galactica's pilots. As the days began to pass, it seemed like each fresh faced pilot being added to the fleet's squadrons was getting killed even faster than the nugget they were replacing. 

"Riley's dead for one very simple reason," Kara told Kat, Ilana, Shadow, Duck, and Hotdog as they cleaned out the late pilot's locker and bunk. "He couldn't control his fear."

"Yep, poor idiot cut and ran," Kat added. "Gave the toaster a free shot up his ass."

"Scar spooked him," Kara continued. "He saw that mother frakker's red eye coming straight for him and he panicked. Riley was a good stick. A little short on guts, but a good stick."

"Beano sure had plenty," Duck commented. "It took Cally an hour to clean out his cockpit." Ilana and Hotdog grimaced at the memory.

"Does anybody remember the name of Riley's girlfriend?" Kat asked, holding up a picture that she'd found of the dead pilot with his arm around a pretty girl.

"Karen, I think," Duck suggested. "Died on Picon. Karen."

"No, it was Katherine…or Kathy?"

"You guys, what does it matter?" Kara asked them. "Gonna hold a little prayer circle? Have a good cry?"

"Actually, it does matter," Kat snapped, but any further comment she might have had was cut off by two new pilots entering the room.

"Hey," one of them said. "I'm Ensign Baxton."

"Ensign Clark," the other added. "And I guess we're your new bunkmates."

"Welcome," Kat told them. "Pick an empty rack."

"We just finished Viper training on Pegasus," Baxton said as he chucked his bag onto one of the beds. "Ready to kick some Cylon ass."

Shadow snorted as he and Hotdog got up to leave. "So was Beano."

"Who's Beano?" Baxton asked. Ilana pulled a label off of the bed that Baxton had chosen and showed it to him. 'BEANO' was written on it. She didn't blame the pilot for looking a little sick at the revelation. Ilana handed him the tape and left the room.

* * *

She didn't particularly feel like spending time with the other pilots and although her mind was moving at light speed, her body wasn't wound up enough to go beat the crap out of something in the training room. Ilana wound up wandering the ship for a little while, and was surprised when her feet finally took her down to the brig without any conscious input from her brain. 

A corporal opened the door for her, letting her into the room where Galactica's Cylon lived in a metal and glass cage. She didn't look any older than Ilana was, and didn't seem as sinister as Pegasus' Toaster had once been back before she was broken like kindling. The Cylon known as Sharon Valerii looked like anyone else in the fleet, and carefully eyed her visitor as she came in the room. She got up from her bed and approached the telephone on the wall; Ilana picked up the receiver on her end.

"D-do you know who I am?" she finally asked. Sharon shook her head slightly.

"No."

"My name's Ilana Adama." She let that sink in for a moment, although she wasn't sure what she was looking for on the Cylon's face. There wasn't remorse, although perhaps…pity? Understanding? "I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing here…I guess I just wanted to see what the person who shot my father looked like."

"It wasn't actually me."

"Does it make a difference?"

"Yes. It does." Ilana considered that. Finally, she hung the phone back on its hook, turned, and left the room without another word. It wasn't hard to hate the Cylons after all of the things that they had done, but she was really getting sick of having so much to hate them for.

* * *

"If you ask me, I think Scar's a coward." 

A brash statement from a relatively new pilot. JoJo wasn't as fresh-off-the-simulators as some of the others sitting around in Galactica's mess hall, but he was still pretty new when compared to Starbuck's original group of nuggets. The fact that Academy-trained pilots were becoming a rarity in the fleet was actually a little unsettling.

"This isn't dueling pistols at dawn," Starbuck chastised him from the next table over. "This is war. You never wanna fight fair. You want to sneak up behind your enemy and club him over the head. Scar understands that. And so do I. So, that's why I'm going to kill him."

"You?" Kat asked with a snicker. "Starbuck, you can barely walk." The sad fact of the matter was that she was right; Ilana hadn't seen the other woman hit the bottle as hard as she'd been doing of late since the days after Zak's death.

"Look who's talking, Stim Junkie," Kara shot back. The whole room 'ooh'ed.

"I wouldn't be calling anyone a junkie if I were you, Starbuck. Not the way you've been pounding back booze. One Colonel Tigh on this ship is bad enough. I got…" Kat counted her money, "I got 200 here, says I nail Scar's chrome-plated ass. And when I do, you hand that Top Gun over to me and pour me my first drink."

"Your lips will never touch the rim, little girl," Starbuck said, before taking another sip.

"We'll see," Kat shot and turned back to her own glass.

"What's your deal?" Ilana asked her. The other pilot gave her a curious look.

"You two buddy-buddies now?"

"No. Kara and I tolerate each other because we try not to have anything to do with each other off the clock. But I know what the order is around here."

"Well, I say the order around here is a little out of date. You get to be the best by beating the best, right?"

Ilana watched Kara continue her drunken antics across the room. "She's off her game. You'd never take her in a fair fight."

Kat grinned, finishing off her glass and gesturing to JoJo for more. "You heard her yourself – you never want to fight fair."

"This isn't war; it's your own frakking squadron," Ilana told her. "You don't have to share a bunkroom with the Cylons."

Kat laughed. "That would be a sight to see. Do centurions even sleep?"

"We've put the lights out on Raiders," JoJo offered up, and the conversation moved in the direction of their past victories. Regardless of how Ilana felt about Starbuck's actions and judgment, she didn't like the atmosphere that was taking over Alpha Squadron. She had already had the experience of living on a ship with a crew that didn't trust each other any farther than they could throw each other. She didn't want to do it again.

* * *

The next morning's briefing was a chore. Starbuck was late (again) and extraordinarily hung-over (again) and Kat was determined not to cut her a single break (again). The more sarcastic Kat got, the more pissed off Kara got, and a circular chain of cause and effect was created. 

"Lieutenant Adama!" Kara called out once the meeting was finally over. "A word?" Shadow offered her a little smile before he followed the others out of the ready room. "When was the last time you were in a Viper?" Starbuck asked once they were alone.

That threw Ilana for a bit of a loop. "Um…about a year ago, just for kicks, on the Pacifica. Pegasus was short on Raptor pilots, so that's all I flew with them."

"Well, you're not on Pegasus anymore. We've started rolling new fighters off the assembly lines, but pilots aren't as easy to replace, and you just happen to already be trained."

"Like I said, it's been a while. And never in combat situations."

"Well, there's a first time for everything. We have a training exercise this afternoon that I want you to sit in on. I won't be sticking you in a cockpit quite yet, but you could probably use a few refreshers."

"Yes, Sir."

* * *

That afternoon's session was an exercise in targeting. One of the advantages of having the Pegasus was the newer training equipment that the ship had possessed. "A raider is a squirmy son of a bitch," Kara explained to the pilots. "You won't be able to keep him in your sights for more than two seconds. So, you have to deliver a killing burst within that time or he will turn and nail your ass. All that yanking and banking gives you one hell of a case of vertigo, and that's what this chair simulates." 

The newest pilots on the ship went first on the contraption, a chair within three spinning concentric rings. When the spinning stopped, the occupant had to fire, blind, at the target in front of them. No one in the lineup before JoJo was even able to hit the target. One pilot's shot went wild enough to hit the clock on the wall – a clock that had already been incapacitated by another pilot's bullet.

"What's the all-time record?" JoJo asked as he got up.

"Four hits on the X-ring," Hotdog replied.

"Are you kidding? Who did that?"

"I did," Kara replied. Ilana could practically see the light bulb go off over top of Kat's head.

"Mind if I give it a try for old time's sake?" she asked Starbuck. She nodded.

"Be my guest."

When Kat stopped spinning, Kara handed her the reloaded gun. "Two seconds. Go." Five rounds quickly left the chamber, each striking true on the target's X-ring.

"Five," Hotdog proclaimed. Kat ripped the blindfold off her head to see for herself.

"Yes! Whoo!" she cried, jumping up to celebrate with the other pilots.

Kara did her best to ignore them. "Adama. You're up."

Ilana never let the image of the target leave her mind while she spun in the chair. When the gun was thrust into her hand, she knew exactly where she was aiming. She pulled the trigger five times, and then lifted her blindfold to see the result. The first shot was a little wide, but the other four were just as clean as Kat's had been; she'd tied Kara's record.

"What the frak is up with that gun?" JoJo asked. Ilana handed the weapon back to Starbuck, locking eyes with the CAG for a moment.

"Just lucky, I guess," she told JoJo as she got up.

* * *

TBC... 


	7. Scar 2

Ensign Baxton, or "BB," had very quickly gone from a cocky little nugget fresh off of Pegasus into a worried little nugget that was liable to get someone killed. It wasn't very surprising when that 'someone' turned out to be himself.

From her spot underneath her Raptor, making repairs, Ilana could see JoJo immediately lose his lunch upon getting out of his Viper. The reason his patrol had only come back with one ship had apparently been very traumatic.

"It's all right, JoJo," one of the crewmen told him, handing him a towel. Tyrol and some of his knuckle draggers were working on securing the pilot's ship as well as the others that had just landed.

"Shutdown complete," Kara reported to the Chief.

"Nothing you could do, Captain," he told her. "Your alert fighters were just too far away."

"Nice work, Starbuck," Kat told her as she sidled up to the CAG's Viper.

"What the hell happened to BB?" she asked.

"What happened? He did exactly what you told him to do, Captain. They had bingo fuel and a head start home, but instead the FNG turned and attacked. And Scar lit him up like a pinwheel."

"Why would he try to take on Scar by himself? Stupid idiot."

"I believe your words were, 'Try and run and you're dead,' were they not? You drilled that into the poor moron's head."

"You and I both know that 99 percent of the time that is the right move."

Kat shrugged. "Not this time."

Ilana watched her walk away. As she saw Kara still sitting in her cockpit, staring at nothing with her mind a million miles away, she began to wonder if things affected the mighty Starbuck a bit more than she let anyone see.

Kara turned and caught her gaze, holding it for a moment. " Lieutenant Adama," she called over to her. "You're a Viper pilot. Starting today."

* * *

There was a different patch on Ilana's right sleeve the next morning as she climbed up in a Viper that still had a dead man's name stenciled on the side. At the rate that they were losing pilots, it was a waste of paint to start re-labeling them. "You ready?" JoJo asked her from his spot in the plane next to her once she'd gotten her headset in her ear and her helmet on. The canopy closed over her cockpit. 

"As I'll ever be."

Ilana had trained on Vipers at the Academy, just like her brothers. Some had called her 'a natural', following in her father and Lee's footsteps. She'd been flying right behind her twin when he killed himself. Still had a scar on her leg from a chunk of shrapnel that had cut straight through her fighter. Talent was the only thing that had kept there from being two fireballs that day.

She'd been sidelined by the injury for a few weeks, time that she spent on the Galactica with her father. When she climbed into a Viper for the first time after the accident, heading back to Picon to finish her training, she'd seen how white Adama's knuckles turned as he held the railing on the hangar deck and watched her run through her preflight checks. She'd promised herself that she wouldn't put him through what Zak had. Back at the Academy, she'd traded Vipers for Raptors and hadn't regretted it once. Now, as her Viper shot out into open space, she tried not to picture her father listening in on the wireless chatter from CIC.

"Galactica, JoJo," the other pilot called in. "Patrol is departing."

"Copy that," Dualla replied. "Be safe."

The asteroid field was one hell of a scary place to be; there were far too many hiding places that were known too well by the enemy. "So…correct me if I'm wrong," JoJo commented as they flew, "But wasn't Starbuck supposed to be out here this morning?"

"The short answer is yes," Ilana replied. "The long answer…you many not want to get me started."

"I've got time," he replied with a chuckle.

"Well, from what I could tell in the bunkroom, she got monumentally plastered last night. Apparently waking up this morning was too much of a challenge for her to manage."

"I guess it's a good thing she bailed, then."

"How do you figure?"

"Would YOU want to fly with a hungover Starbuck?"

"I'd prefer that the CAG not be that drunk in the first place."

"I'd prefer not to have to be OUT HERE in the first place, but the Cylons don't ask what we want, and neither does Starbuck."

Ilana smiled. "You got that right."

* * *

The patrol was mostly uneventful, and Ilana was starting to feel more comfortable by the end of it. She'd never trained on a MarkII, so it took some getting used to, but the feel of the fighter was familiar. "Let's take one more pass and then escort the miners back so they can refuel," JoJo suggested.

"Roger that." There was so much debris everywhere around them; chunks of rock, pieces of their own ships, or possibly an enemy in wait. It was so hard to know for sure; Dradis was practically useless.

"I take left, you take right," Jojo said as they came upon mass of rocks that was so dense it couldn't safely be flown through.

"Sure thing," Ilana replied. She wasn't expecting to hear an,

"Oh, frak!" a moment later.

"JoJo?"

"He was hiding in the debris! I can't shake him!" Ilana decided 'over' would be faster than around, and pushed her Viper to the max to come to her wingman's aid. However, she rounded the top of the rock pile just in time to see JoJo get added to the graveyard that the asteroid field had become. Scar turned his red eye on her next, but then jumped away before she could do anything.

"Galactica, Athena: I've lost my wingman. Repeat: JoJo's gone!"

* * *

Ilana had managed to keep her breakfast down while she was in the hangar bay, but it was a good thing that there was a bathroom just down the hall. When she'd finally pulled herself together enough to come out, she found that her father was waiting for her by the door, a cup in his hand.

"Here," he said, offering it to her.

"I don't think alcohol's going to help."

"It's tea." Ilana relented, taking a sip.

"That wasn't exactly how I wanted my first day back in a Viper to go," she said as they started walking, heading back towards his office.

"I'd agree with you, there."

"I just…there wasn't even anything I could do. It was too fast…I shouldn't have been out there."

"You've had a lot more in the way of training than most of these kids do."

"No, I mean I really shouldn't have been out there. I wasn't supposed to be on patrol. Maybe someone else would have realized it was a trap, would have reacted faster, or would have been able to shoot the frakking bastard before it jumped away."

"Or maybe there was just nothing anyone could have done." He opened his door and they both went inside.

"Does it ever feel like we're just slowly slipping into nonexistence? One by one, until we're all gone?" Adama led her over to the couch in the corner.

"Only on the bad days," he quietly replied. "Lie down and get some rest." Ilana obliged, curling up on the couch as he put a blanket over her. He kissed her forehead before returning to his desk. Before beginning his work again, Adama contemplated the picture sitting between stacks of papers; an old photo of him and his three children at the base on Caprica. The part that he hadn't said aloud to his daughter was that most every day was a bad day.

* * *

Ilana was awakened from her much needed nap when Tigh came down from the CIC to report that Galactica had a new Top Gun. Kat had managed to smoke Scar once and for all and, appropriately, a celebration was being held in the officer's mess. By the time Ilana, Tigh, and Adama arrived, the alcohol had been broken out and everyone was enjoying themselves.

"Yo, Starbuck!" Kat called from the stage, lifting her mug in the air. "My cup runneth dry. Seems I recall someone boasting that my lips would never touch this rim."

It was dead silent in the room, and Ilana was sure that more than a few people were wondering if Kat was about to get her lights knocked out. However, Kara simply walked over, albeit grudgingly, and refilled Kat's drink.

"You earned it," she told the other pilot. Kat smiled smugly, and was about to resume her own celebration, but Kara turned to the crowd gathered and raised the bottle she was holding. "To BB. JoJo. Riley. Beano. Dipper. Flattop. Chuckles. Jolly. Crashdown. Sheppard. Flyboy. Dash. Stepchild. Puppet. Fireball…"

At that point, she'd listed far more names than any other senior pilot on the ship would have been able to do off the top of their heads. It was surprising that Kara actually remembered all of the ones that they'd lost, and sad that everyone else couldn't say the same for themselves. Perhaps they still did have a lot to learn from their instructor, no matter how good of pilots they all thought they were.

"To all of them," Lee finished his best friend's toast. Ilana stood beside her brother, raising her glass as well and mentally adding a few friends that she'd lost on Pegasus to the list.

"So say we all," Adama offered, and everyone else echoed him.

"So say we all."

* * *

TBC... 


	8. the Captain's Hand 1

**AN: More editing on season 2.5 - "Sacrifice" happened, but Kara didn't shoot anyone, Billy's not dead, and Dualla's not falling all over Lee (I'm so embarassed for that girl). And now, on with the show...**

**

* * *

**Everyone knew that it was a very bad sign for the stability of the Pegasus when Colonel Fisk was also murdered onboard the Battlestar. There was no sign of Cylon involvement this time – Fisk's involvement in the fleet's black market seemed to be responsible – but they were still all badly shaken up. Adama decided to promote the ship's chief engineer to command, seeing as how he was the only senior officer left from Pegasus' original crew, but that meant another promotion was in order, as well.

"Major Adama, huh?" Ilana asked Lee as they sat in her bunkroom on the Galactica. She was pinning his brand new ranks to his collar for him. "Big brother's a frakking XO."

"Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out exactly how that happened," he replied with a grin. "But since the admiral has gone and lost his mind, we should probably try to take advantage of it. Why don't you go see if you can take my old ranks?" Ilana laughed.

"There's no way he'd promote me to Captain. I've only been a full Lieutenant a few weeks."

"So? This is wartime, and well trained officers are a precious commodity. We could use a new CAG on Pegasus, anyway."

"I am NOT going to be the beast's CAG."

"The beast?"

"Yeah, that's what we're calling Pegasus now. And they think Galactica is 'the bucket'." Lee laughed.

"You guys need more shifts or something. You've got far too much free time on your hands."

"In any case," Ilana pointedly continued, "You guys are borrowing Galactica's CAG almost every day. Starbuck can't pull double duty?"

"Kara is on 'the beast,' as you put it, to train the group that just came on."

"And to drive Commander Gardner nuts."

"Yeah, well, that's a special talent of hers. My special talent is trying to keep her under control."

Ilana sat back on her bed as he got up from the bench beside it. "Good luck with that," she told him.

"Thanks. I tell you what – next time you've got a free shift, come over to Pegasus and we can have dinner."

"Does being XO give you any special food privileges?"

Lee laughed. "Yeah. You get a meal three times a day. Sometimes it's even edible."

* * *

With Kara off the ship, Kat, Hotdog, and Ilana split the responsibility of trying to run Galactica's squadrons. "Ready room in five minutes, guys," Ilana reminded two pilots that were underneath a Viper trying to make repairs as she walked past them on the hangar deck. 

Torch shut the fuel access door that he was lying below. "We'll be there," he assured her.

Hotdog was already inside the pilots' briefing room at the podium, looking over the notes for that morning. "You got the patrol schedule?" she asked him.

"Yeah, but I had to make a few changes. Phoenix broke his frakking wrist in the training room."

"Oh, great."

"Kat's running the new schedule for the rest of week up to the CIC to get the XO to sign off on the switches."

"I got the maintenance log off of the Chief," Ilana told him, showing him the clipboard. "We've got four birds down for repairs and two more that are ready for the scrap yard."

"That'll make things a bit tight if we need to scramble alert fighters."

"We should make sure we've got patrols coordinated with Pegasus so we can combine forces."

"If I find our CAG, I'll suggest it," Hotdog said with a smirk.

"Or we can just get her to coordinate it over there and we worry about Galactica ourselves. We're doing a pretty good job of taking care of things here without her." They both smiled.

"I'm not frakking doing that again," Kat told them as she entered the room and joined them. "I'm not dealing with that SOB this early in the morning. Next time, a knuckle-dragger gets to be the errand-girl!"

Ilana and Hotdog tried not to laugh aloud. "Well, we're SORT OF handling things ourselves," he amended her last statement.

* * *

In truth, things were only 'sort of' being handled on Pegasus as well. Commander Garner had a severe prejudice against those who weren't TRUE members of the Pegasus' crew, namely Kara Thrace. Her antics were payback for how interesting he'd made her life onboard the ship. Things got even worse when two of the Pegasus' Raptor crews disappeared into thin air. 

"Hey, call for you," one of the deckhands told Ilana as he came up to her. She was underneath a Viper with one of the ship's newer pilots, trying to teach him the ropes on simple maintenance tasks.

"I'll be right back," she told the rook before heading for the nearest phone. "Lieutenant Adama here." she told the caller.

"How did I know I'd find you on the deck?" Lee asked. She smiled.

"Because you know very well how swamped we all are."

"Yeah, I know. I've got a request for you, though."

"I think I'd have to run that by my superiors, Sir," Ilana teased him.

"Think of it as coming from your CAG."

"Well, that's a different matter. How is dear old Starbuck, by the way?"

There was a pause. "Confined to quarters at the moment."

"Are you frakking kidding me?"

"It's a long story that I'm not going into at the moment. Garner's got a tight fist on his pilots, but Kara has a theory that needs checking out."

"You're going behind your CO's back on this?"

"Not exactly, just…giving a suggestion on the first place the mid-shift CAP should look over."

Athena smiled. "And perhaps report in about afterwards? Aye, Major."

"Thanks."

* * *

That afternoon's patrol did learn that a faint distress signal could be heard at the Raptor's last known position, possibly sent by the missing pilots. Kara was certain that the whole thing was a trap, which automatically meant that Garner would believe the opposite. 

"We could hear voices," Ilana told Garner and Lee once her Viper had landed on Pegasus and she'd made her way to the CIC. "I couldn't say for certain whose voices they were. It was too garbled."

"The whole thing might be a trap," Lee pointed out to the Commander.

"Is this your theory, Major?" Garner asked, fixing a look of utter disdain on both Adama siblings. "Or Captain Thrace's? He turned to one of the officers in the room. "Mr. Thornton, can you give me a fix on where this distress signal is coming from?"

"Yes, sir, it's long range, over forty SU away."

"Then spin up the FTL drive and prepare to jump the ship."

"That's way beyond accurate Dradis range," Ilana pointed out to him.

"This isn't just Captain Thrace's theory," Lee added. "I believe as well that this is a trap and – "

"And I disagree," Garner cut him off. "Get Admiral Adama on the line," he told Thornton. "I'm going to go get our men back." Ilana looked to Lee, practically shouting at him with her eyes that he needed to do SOMETHING but without any idea of what.

It was a big relief that Adama shared Lee's reservations, and tried to make the commander see reason as well. Lee got put in the middle of the situation, but held his ground and the Admiral stopped Garner's plans. The Commander looked about ready to explode as he hung up the phone. He turned to Ilana, not even trying to pretend to be diplomatic.

"I want you off my ship, and you can take Captain Thrace with you. Let Adama deal with his little pet."

She tried not to smirk. "Yes, Sir."

* * *

Lee went with Ilana to collect Kara from her quarters. Starbuck didn't seem remorseful in the least for her behavior and was highly amused that Garner had gotten put in his place. 

They were halfway to the hangar deck when alarms began sounding and people started running for their stations. Lee caught the arm of an officer as he passed them by.

"Captain Case, what's going on?" he asked.

"We've been ordered to scramble, condition one. The ship's getting ready to jump and we're supposed to launch on the other side." Case then continued on his way.

"Get to the deck," Lee told Ilana and Kara.

"What?" Kara asked.

"Garner said to get off this ship, he just didn't say when. The squads need a CAG, and the CAG needs a wingman. Now go." Lee headed off in the opposite direction.

"Gee, I wonder which one of us fits which role," Kara said with a smirk. Ilana smiled as well as they went to find themselves some planes.

* * *

TBC... 

(feedback is still very much appreciated)


	9. the Captain's Hand 2

**AN: Some people wondered why I cut out the events (aka, the shooting) from "Sacrifice." I liked the show (mostly), but I didn't really know how to put Ilana of the middle of it; I thought that the events of the episode and dealing with the repercussions of it took me away from what I was trying to do with this story. Yes, Lee getting shot would have stirred things up again for everyone, but that's not what I wanted to happen. Sorry if this offends.**

* * *

Pegasus' Viper pilots hung back, waiting, while two Raptors went out to investigate the two contacts that were showing up on Dradis. As they all listened in to the wireless reports from their cockpits, it didn't appear that any of the pilots on the hangar deck gave a frak that Ilana and Kara were still onboard the ship. 

"Pegasus, Red Devil," one of the Raptor pilots reported in. "Our two birds look intact. Can't quite see yet, and we're unable to raise the Raptors on wireless…" There was a pause as they got closer to the drifting ships. "Oh, my Gods. Pegasus, both Raptor crews are dead. I repeat: they're all dead." Everyone in the hangar sighed. They'd dared to hope that maybe things would turn out okay.

A second later, alarms began blaring and the ship shuddered violently as it was hit. All the pilots hurriedly began pulling on helmets and closing their canopies. "Let's go, let's go!" Kara yelled to the deck crew.

The Vipers were launched out into hell. Three Basestars were visible before them, peppering Pegasus with nukes. Raiders were also launched, spraying weapons fire at the Colonial fighters. "All right, Showboat," Kara told one of the pilots, "You take red squadron. Hit 'em on the right. Athena, you take blue on the left. The rest of you, follow me. We're going straight up the gut."

They were getting hammered hard and barely making a dent in the endless onslaught of Raiders. Athena tried not to cringe as she saw an explosion signifying the third or fourth member of blue squadron to die. It was senseless, completely and utterly senseless. They shouldn't be out there; they shouldn't have fallen for the trap.

"Starbuck, Pegasus," they all heard over the wireless. "Command has been assumed by Major Adama. All fighters should focus on protecting our top side."

"Wilco, Pegasus. We've got your back."

There was no question of why Lee had taken command; there wasn't time for that now. Everyone just knew that if they were lucky enough to survive the day, things on the deck wouldn't be the same as when they left.

A huge burst of salvo fire emanated forth from Pegasus' forward guns, squarely hitting the center Basestar of the three. The ship started to break off its attack, although the other two weren't.

"I'm bingo ammo," one of the pilots reported.

"Me, too," another chimed in.

"Roger that," Kara told them. "Pegasus, Starbuck, we're skosh ammo out here."

"Copy that. Do what you can."

"If you've got something left in your guns, use it," Ilana ordered. "Otherwise, get your six on the flight deck!" There weren't many of them still out there fighting after that, but those that remained tried their hardest to buy Pegasus a few more seconds to get their FTL engine back online. One pilot managed to knock out a nuke with the last of his ammunition, only to be taken out by a Raider a second later as he tried to make a run for home.

"Pegasus to all Vipers," they finally heard. "Return to ship. I repeat: get yourselves home." No one had to be told twice.

Streaking through the sky, Starbuck brought up the rear as the remains of Pegasus' three squadrons headed for the deck. "Pegasus, Starbuck," she called in. "Nobody behind me but toasters. Now get us outta here."

Moments later, the ship disappeared in a bright flash of light. If only the memory of whole episode could have vanished as easily.

* * *

Pegasus had taken heavy losses. They'd lost pilots, engine crew, deckhands, marines, and their commander. The ship had structural damage that they were scrambling to repair. Almost every single one of their surviving fighters had taken damage of some sort. At the moment, 'the bucket' was looking a hell of a lot better than 'the beast.' 

"How many did we lose from the squads?" Ilana asked Kara as they worked together on Pegasus' flight deck that evening, fixing up their own ships before they returned to Galactica.

"Seventeen."

She sighed. "Out of fifty."

Kara shrugged. "Or out of fifty-two if you count a couple of pilots who'd been thrown off the ship."

"Plus three Raptors."

"Yeah. We've been turning out new MarkVIIs, but we don't have any replacements ready for the Raptors."

"Or the pilots." Kara slowly nodded. "Do you remember all of their names?" Ilana asked.

"Not yet," she replied without looking at her. "But I will."

* * *

It was late at night by the time that Lee, Kara, and Ilana all arrived back on the Galactica in their Vipers. Adama had wanted to see Lee, so he disappeared off to his father's quarters. Ilana was surprised to see that the light was still on in the pilots' ready room. Hotdog was at the front, going over paperwork.

"Hey," she said as she walked in and sat in the front row of chairs.

"Hi. I heard you had quite an interesting day."

"Yeah. I'm looking forward to sleeping it off tomorrow."

"You're leaving me to do the early shift briefing all by myself?"

"Absolutely," she replied with a little smile. He returned it. "What are you still doing down here, anyway?"

"The weekly log."

"This early in the week?"

"I meant last week's log."

"Oh."

"I thought Kat had done it, she thought I had done it – XO chewed us both out."

Ilana smiled. "Nice."

"Mmm. Who decided this was our job in the first place? I never asked for any responsibility."

"None of us did," they heard a voice say, and both spun to see Kara in the back of the room. "Sometimes it just comes along anyway." She glanced at the schedule hanging by the door, and then turned back to Hotdog. "Get your ass in your rack; you're on early shift tomorrow. And you better not be late for my briefing." She then turned and left. Ilana and Hotdog just smiled at each other.

"CAG's back," he said.

"Oh, yeah."

* * *

Ilana's bunkmates were kind and did allow her to sleep for most of the following day. She finally got up around dinnertime and found Lee and Kara eating together in the mess. "Are you still here?" she teasingly asked her big brother as she joined them.

"Yeah, but not for long."

Kara smirked. "Commander Adama has a ship to get back to."

Ilana almost choked. "What?" Lee pointed to his collar. "Okay, Dad has seriously lost his mind."

"I still can't believe this dipstick said yes," Kara continued. "I mean, all the pressure and responsibility. Sleepless nights. Officers giving him a hard time."

"It could be worse," Lee pointed out. "You could be my new CAG."

"Or even better, your XO," Ilana added. Kara pretended to have a heart attack.

"No, thank you," she said. "I'm staying here to be Galactica's CAG. I believe the Old Man said something about wanting to keep an eye on me. But I get to pick new squadron leaders out of the deal." She eyed Ilana. "You're not gonna be one of them, kid."

The younger girl tried not to be hurt. There weren't many officers left on Pegasus or Galactica that had as much experience as she did, but if Starbuck was the one making the choices, everyone already knew that they didn't exactly see eye to eye most of the time. Ilana thought that had been changing lately, but…

Lee grinned at his little sister, knowing what she had to be thinking. "That's because I already had dibs on you," he said, holding out his hand and offering her Captain's insignia. "I told you that Pegasus needed a new CAG."

"You can't be serious."

"Your brother's got his own frakking Battlestar," Kara told her. "I don't think it gets more serious that that."

"Dad agreed to this?"

"Yeah, eventually. I told him we were a package deal; I've lost a lot of time with you already."

Ilana smiled, looking down at the ranks in her hand. "I never would have imagined this three years ago," she commented. "I mean, I don't think any of us could have seen the attacks coming, but…the three of us sitting around a table on the same Battlestar, working as part of the same BSG."

"Occupying three of the top seven positions in the fleet," Kara added with a grin. The others returned it.

"I guess we're just somewhat lucky," Lee said. "Although we're only all going to be on the same ship for as long as it takes you to finish eating and get packed," he told his sister.

Ilana picked up another forkful of her food. "I'm going, I'm going."


	10. Epilogue

Once she'd shoved her things into a couple bags and said good-bye to her bunkmates, Ilana had one final stop to make before heading down to the hangar bay to get her Viper.

After knocking on the hatch before her, she could hear her father's voice from inside, giving her permission to enter. Adama smiled when he saw who his visitor was. "You didn't think I would try to slip off without saying good-bye, did you?" she asked him.

"Of course not. I could have you court-martialed." Ilana smiled, albeit a little sadly.

"I feel like I just got you back. I don't want to lose you again."

"You're not going all that far."

"I know, just…Nothing's ever certain in our lives."

Adama wrapped his arms around her. "Did you ever get to be a child?" he asked. "Or were you born an old woman?" Ilana smiled.

"I think it was entirely Mom's influence."

He chuckled. "Of that I have no doubt."

Ilana looked away, regretting her last comment. Thinking of her mother wasn't going to lead to anything productive, and she had too much going on in her life to let the grief catch up with her. "I should probably get going; Lee's waiting for me down in the hangar."

"You two watch out for each other."

"You know we will." She started to turn for the door, but hesitated. "Hey, Dad? Why did you have Kara transferred to Galactica after Zak…Why her and not me?"

He was quiet for a moment. "At one point, I thought I could protect her. Fix her. Now, I've learned better than to try. Kara will always be Kara and she needs that. You…I knew you were going to be okay. And I was right." Ilana slowly nodded. "Have the three of you finished being jealous of each other yet?"

"I think so. We're pretty scary working together, actually."

Adama laughed. "Don't I know it. Now, I think you have a ship to be getting back to, Captain."

"Yes, Sir." She raised a hand to salute. "It was an honor serving under you, Admiral."

He smiled. "The honor was all mine."

As Ilana walked down the ship's halls, she smiled to herself. She undoubtedly wasn't REALLY leaving Galactica, but even still, moving on wasn't such a bad thing. Pegasus had saved her life, but Galactica had given her something else; something possibly more important. Something that she hadn't actually been looking for, but was glad to have found.

"You ready?" Lee asked as he saw his sister come into the hangar. He was sitting in the hatch of the Raptor they were taking back to Pegasus.

Ilana nodded. "Yeah. Let's go."

* * *

FIN 


End file.
